Decision details

a)         To note that contracts for current systems are coming to an end;

b)         To approve the strategic approach to re-procurement described in the report;

c)         To approve a budget of up to £2m for the project, noting that high levels of investment are only likely to be required if such investment demonstrates pay-back within an acceptable time;

d)         To approve funding for the project from a combination of Financial Services Division’s savings and the service transformation fund, as described in the report; and

e)         To approve the letting of a contract on conclusion of the procurement exercise.

Contracts for the Council’s core finance and HR systems will come to an end in 2017.  By law, we are required to undertake a formal tendering process to either replace the systems or to keep the current ones.

The need for substantial initial funding is only expected to arise if the preferred option would pay for itself by subsequent savings, although this cannot be guaranteed.  The outcome will depend on the conclusions of the tendering exercise.

The rationale for the approach is described in the report.